13 AUGUST 1921, Page 3

A moment's reflection will show that the Government cannot have

reflected seriously upon what they were doing. The very logics which made McKeon an exception would have pre- vented the Government from entering into negotiations with the leaders of the Republican Army at all. But having once made up their mind to deal with the Sinn Feiners—many of whom have not merely accepted the results of murder, but have actually ordered mnrders to be committed—the Government ought to have seen that McKeon, who risked his own life in fighting, was almost a reputable person in comparison with those who gave orders for murder behind the scenes.